


Life After The Storm

by itsaforestthing



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 14:11:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11292306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsaforestthing/pseuds/itsaforestthing
Summary: It’s been roughly a year since Max has chosen to travel back in time for one last time. To not interfere in Chloe’s confrontation with Nathan. She since then tried to live with her decision, but really struggles. She decides to write a letter to Chloe because she started feeling guilty as she begins to move on with her life lately.warnings: same as in the game, also: spoiler for one ending of the story, and: guilt is a big topic





	Life After The Storm

_Dear Chloe,_

_I don’t really believe in heaven, or any other concept of life after death, and more importantly I don’t know if you would remember my return to Arcadia Bay, even if there is such thing as life after death, but I need to tell you that I am unsure if I did the right thing. I regret it every day. I miss you more than anything in this world, but I know I don’t have to apologize to you. You were the one who understood — better than I did — that this is what had to happen. But if this is presumably the ‚right thing to do‘ why does it feel so bad? I miss you every day, since that day. Some days I was just glad that I got the chance to get to know the person you’ve become, before losing you. Some days I wished I hadn’t, thinking I couldn’t possibly miss you as much as I do if we hadn’t spent this week together. But I know now that I would never want to trade the good memories just to get rid of the bad feelings. I got the chance to see you again, got remembered of our friendship again, got to fall in love with you, in return I had to make a choice that will haunt me my whole life. And I will never be sure if I made the right choice. I will have to live with that. One thing I can tell you: knowing I saved the others doesn’t help at all. They are not you. No one ever will be you. No one will ever be able to replace you. But the reason I am writing you today is: I am guilty of one more thing. I fell in love again. I feel like it is to soon, it’s only been a year since ~~we buried~~ I lost you. And even though I know she can’t, it feels like I’m replacing you. Look at me, you would probably laugh at me, after one silly kiss. You would tell me I read way to much into that again. A Typical Max move. But the truth is: she is the first person I fell in love after we met again. Which makes her the second person overall I ever fell in love with, you being the first. I know I’m asking for too much, but do you think you would approve of her? I feel so guilty every time I am with her. And I know it is horrible that she is the only reason I am writing you, but Oh Chloe, I think I need to let you go. I don’t mean that I want to forget you, just the idea of being able to get you back somehow, the idea of us two together, the idea of what would have been if I would have chosen you. Do you believe me when I say that she is lovely? That she makes me feel calm again for the first time in what feels like forever? This is the other reason I feel so guilty: she is the only person who can make me forget about what happened for a short time, which eventually means that she makes me forget about you. Not for long, of course not. I will never forget about us. I don’t know what I am hoping to archive with writing you, you who I don’t even believe still has a conciseness. Maybe I was hoping the guilt would vanish, maybe I just needed to tell someone about it. This might be the first time I ever really understand how lonely you must’ve felt after I left and your father died. Anybody, I would tell about this, us, that week, would think I must be mad. There is that on the one hand, on the other there are my parents. I avoided telling them about, well … me and girls. You remember my parents, right? You understand, that I haven’t told them? I am already comparing too much, but I know it would have been a bit different if it were us, because I know I can to anything and everything when I have you as my backup. Oh Chloe, I miss you so much and I really hope you can forgive me, but she makes me really happy. And happy is the one thing I actually thought I would never be again. Do you believe that there is just one person for you? I hope not because Rachel would be your one person, wouldn’t she? I actually start to hope there is a life after death thing somehow. I know you wouldn’t be alone. I’ve started rambling, haven’t I? I just don't want to stop writing you. This at least feels a bit like I could still talk to you. _

_I’ll miss you forever, but I hope it will hurt less after a while._  
I love you,  
Max 

 

 

Max puts the pen down and looks at the barely readable letter. Her handwriting is scrawly and the ink is smudged from tears and writing too fast. Her head falls back and leans against the wall. She is sitting on her bed, a sheet of paper, almost completely covered with words lays on her closed notebook, balanced on her crossed legs. Her hands are shaking and tears keep streaming down. It takes her a while to calm down. She started writing when it was still pitch black outside and she finished quite quickly. But to stop crying takes her a lot longer. The first ray of sun streams through her window, into her face, when she finally calms down. Her hands and knees are still a bit shaky when she gets up from her bed and starts walking toward the big mirror on her wall. She stops, stares at her reflexion for a bit, takes a deep breath and turns around to her bad again. With one smooth movement, she grabs her jacket, her keys, a lighter and the letter. Already opening the door, she starts folding the letter and puts it into the inside pocket of her jacket. Never would Max have thought that she would return to this place. She never wanted to. But here she is, standing at the junkyard again. Without thinking about this place too much, she goes up to one of the empty metal casks. She unfolds the letter again and looks at it for one last time. „Goodbye Chloe, I still really miss you, you know?“ she mumbles, gets the lighter out if her pocket, lights it and sets the paper on fire. The flames start taking her words from her. Max tries to hold on to the piece of paper as long as she can, but eventually, she has to let it fall down into the empty cask. As soon as she does she turns around and walks aways without looking back, tears in her eyes again. 

The next night, she has the weirdest dream. She finds herself lying in the grass of an unnaturally beautiful meadow and as she looks to her left, she can see Chloe. Her heart stops, skips a beat. Breathing seems impossible, but somehow she manages to say Chloe’s name. The blue-haired girl, who was looking at the sky above, how looks at Max, but her eyes look sad. „Max,“ Chloe starts talking, her voice sad but unusual soft, „You don’t really think I would be angry at you for being happy would you?“ Max reaches out for Chloe’s face, but she can’t touch her. It’s like they are in two different worlds, even though they are lying right next to each other. Max tries to talk but fails. Instead, Chloe starts talking again: „Tell my mother. Not everything, maybe just that you were in love with me. Tell her. Tell her that you fell in love again and that you feel guilty for being happy. I know she does too. Maybe you can help her!“ And with these words, Chloe vanishes and so does the meadow and everything around Max turns black. The next morning, she doesn’t remember the dream but wakes up with the desire to talk to Chloe’s mom.

**Author's Note:**

> \- I wrote the letter in one going and didn’t reread it too much because in this Max written it down really fastly and didn’t think about her words too much. She just let them out. 
> 
> \- Storm here (in the title) means more the inner conflict inside of Max then the actual storm because that never happened after Max didn’t save Chloe.


End file.
